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Thursday

Mark Haynes, who wore jersey number 36 for six seasons with the New York Giants, was drafted in the first round (eigth overall) by the Giants in the 1980 NFL draft. The defensive back played in 15 games as a rookie, starting 11 of those games, and notching an interception.

Although he may not have played up to the hype of his draft position as a rookie, as the New York Times stated back in 1982, he became "one of the two or three best cornerbacks in pro football" within a year.

For the 1981 season, he started all 16 games, notching another interception. That season would see Haynes be named a first team All-NFL member by Pro Football Weekly.

Haynes would play four more seasons for New York, with his most prolific defensive stats coming in the 1984 campaign, when he picked off a hefty seven passes for a combined 90 yards in return.

35 is another New York Giant number which has not been prolifically worn, although you might expect it to have been, by either a running back or defensive back. Of those to wear number 35 for the Giants, my pick for the best is Kevin Dockery.

Dockery, who played his college ball at Mississippi State, wore number 35 as a rookie for the Giants in 2006. That season, number 35 got into 14 games for New York, and contributed 29 solo tackles. He also proved deft at the art of the take-away, picking the ball off 2 times for a combined 100 yards, 1 of which would be a touchdown.

In four total seasons as a Giant, Dockery had 119 solo tackles and 3 interceptions. He saw action in 51 regular season games, starting 10 of them.

Derrick Ward was drafted by the New York Jets in 2004 out of Fresno State University and Ottawa University in Kansas.

Ward would not play for the Jets however, as he was released and signed as a free agent by the New York Giants that same year, for whom he would wear number 34.

In his rookie NFL season, Ward filled a kick-returner role primarily. He put up 436 return yards on 16 returns to lead the league with a 27.3 yards per return mark. He also had one scamper of 92 yards.

In 2005 he saw time in the Big Blue backfield, getting into 14 games for them. In 35 attempts he picked up 3.5 yards per carry, and caught the ball twice for 13 yards. Willie Ponder and Chad Morton filled the primary kick-return duties in 2005.

In 2006, Ward was back at the kick-return game. However, Chad Morton held the lead in return attempts with 31, to the 23 that Ward returned.

2007 saw the Giants once again employing Ward in the running game. He saw the most backfield action up until this point in his pro career, with 125 attempts for 602 yards and 3 touchdowns. He was also thrown the football quite a bit with 40 targets that season.

2008 would prove to be Ward's final season as a New York Giant, and his most productive, rushing the ball. As part of the Earth, Wind and Fire backfield with Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw, Ward put up some impressive numbers. He averaged 5.6 yards per attempt, good enough to lead the league. In total he racked up 1,025 yards toting the rock, along with 384 yards receiving.

Monday

McMahon, who recently completed courses leading to his degree from BYU, also was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame.

As a quarterback for the Cougars between the years 1977 and 1981, McMahon passed for 9,536 yards and 84 touchdowns. His most prolific single season was in 1980 when he threw for 4,571 yards and a whopping 47 touchdowns. Some of McMahon's collegiate football accomplishments inlcude:

Saturday

Isaiah Canaan will now wear number zero after giving up number one so veteran, and former Rocket, Ariza, can once again sport número uno in Houston.

Cannaan was the 34th overall draft pick in the 2013 NBA draft by Houston out of Murray State. The point guard saw action in 22 games with the Rockets during the 2013-14 season, shooting .356 from the field overall.

Trevor Ariza played with the Houston Rockets during the 2009-10 NBA season, while wearing number one. That season, Ariza scored 1,072 points. That was his highest single seaon points total until 2013-14 when he notched 1,107 with the Washington Wizards.

Friday

The number 33, you would think, would be very popular for running backs, or defensive backs, on a team with tradition and a big stage like the New York Giants. That doesn't seem to be the case though. That being said, there are several good football players who have worn number 33 for the New York Giants.

My pick for the best to wear 33 as a Giant is Mel Tripplet. Taken number 56 overall in the 1955 NFL draft, Tripplet rushed the ball 34 times for 138 yards and caught 3 passes for 9 yards as a rookie. Playing primarily fullback, his offensive statistics would increase significantly the following season.

In his sophomore campaign, Triplett gained 515 yards on 125 attempts, garnering 5 touchdowns rushing. He also caught 6 passes for 48 yards and a touchdown.

In total Triplett played 6 seasons for New York, rushing for 2,289 yards and 11 touchdowns, as well as receiving 368 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Triplett was a key member of the 1956 New York Giants NFL Championship team, for which he was named the offensive player of the game.

Thursday

New York Islander John Tavares had his jersey number 91 retired recently, but not by his NHL team. That may eventually come, the retirement of number 91 by the Islanders that is, but not in the near future. Tavares also wore jersey number 91 with his OHL team, the Oshawa Generals, who raised his number to the rafters never to be worn again.

Tavares played three and a half seasons with Oshawa beginning with the 2005-06 campaign. In his first OHL season with the Generals, Tavares notched an impressive 77 points in a mere 65 games, 45 of which were goals.

His second season as a General was the most impressive, statistically, of his OHL career. Tavares put 72 goals in the net over 67 games, added with 62 assists for 134 total points.

All told as an Oshawa General, Tavares notched 183 goals in 223 regular season games.

Wednesday

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Hawks big man Elton Brand will be switching his jersey number from 42 to 7 for this season. The former number one overall draft pick, in 1999, has worn number 42 for all 15 of his NBA seasons up until now.